Thursday, March 21, 2013

Desert Rice by Angela Scott - Virtual Review tour and Giveaway

(Full length contemporary fiction)

This review is done in conjunction with the author's virtual tour with Goddess Fish Promotions.

Angela will award one commenter at every stop a Mobi or ePub copy of WANTED: Dead or Undead or Survivor Roundup from her backlist, and one randomly drawn commenter on the tour will receive a $15 gift card to Amazon, so comment today AND follow the tour (if you click on the tour banner above, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops) -- the more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win an awesome prize!

Samantha Jean Haggert is a beautiful twelve-year-old girl, but no one knows it. All they see is an awkward boy in a baseball cap and baggy pants. Sam's not thrilled with the idea of hiding her identity, but it's all part of her brother's plan to keep Sam safe from male attention and hidden from the law. 15-year-old Jacob will stop at nothing to protect his sister, including concealing the death of the one person who should have protected them in the first place--their mother. Sam and Jacob try to outrun their past by stealing the family car and traveling from West Virginia to Arizona, but the adult world proves mighty difficult to navigate, especially for two kids on their own. Trusting adults has never been an option; no adult has ever given them a good reason. But when Sam meets "Jesus"--who smells an awful lot like a horse--in the park, life takes a different turn. He saved her once, and may be willing to save Sam and her brother again, if only they admit what took place that fateful day in West Virginia. The problem? Sam doesn't remember, and Jacob isn't talking.

Ms. Scott is a truly talented author. Truth is, this isn't the type of book I'd normally read. I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into with Desert Rice, but I was so completely caught up with the authentically written, realistic characters it didn't matter that the plot was one I wasn't hugely excited about.

That's not to say the plot is bad -- it isn't. It's just I'm really a fan of happier stories, and this one takes you to the very last page before you can feel that the characters might actually be, if not happy, then content and safe.

You see, Desert Rice follows the lives of two kids running from an abusive home. What they go through is raw and emotional and frequently heart-wrenching. It's a credit to the author that I cried for these kids more than once, and I wondered how they were when I wasn't reading (as if they were real people, still living their lives while I slept or worked).

This is a book that won't leave you unmoved. It will make you think and do some soul-searching. And, undoubtedly, you'll be surprisingly eager to dive into the next book and find out how Jacob and Sam (and the rest of their "family") are doing to heal and move past those events that scarred them here. I absolutely recommend this book.

4.5 Flowers - This was a very good book! I'd recommend it to my friends

I hear voices. Tiny fictional people sit on my shoulders and whisper their stories in my ear. Instead of medicating myself, I decided to pick up a pen, write down everything those voices tell me, and turn it into a book. I’m not crazy. I’m an author. For the most part, I write contemporary Young Adult novels. However, through a writing exercise that spiraled out of control, I found myself writing about zombies terrorizing the Wild Wild West—and loving it. My zombies don’t sparkle, and they definitely don’t cuddle. At least, I wouldn’t suggest it.

I live on the benches of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains with two lovely children, one teenager, and a very patient husband. I graduated from Utah State University with a B.A. degree in English, not because of my love for the written word, but because it was the only major that didn’t require math. I can’t spell, and grammar is my arch nemesis. But they gave me the degree, and there are no take backs.

As a child, I never sucked on a pacifier; I chewed on a pencil. I’ve been writing that long. It has only been the past few years that I’ve pursued it professionally, forged relationships with other like-minded individuals, and determined to make a career out of it.

You can subscribe and follow me on my website, where I blog obsessively about my writing process and post updates on my current works. I’m also on Twitter and Facebook, but be forewarned, I tweet and post more than a normal person.

Thank you so much for being a part of my book tour. And thank you for taking the time to read and review Desert Rice. Of all my books that I've written, Desert Rice is by far my favorite, so it pleases me when a reader enjoys it and even cries a little (it was an emotionally hard book to write).

Again, thank you.

Also, if you get a chance to leave your review on Amazon, that would help me out so much. Thank you.

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We are three generations of book lovers who read in many genres and want to share our love of the written word. If you're an author and would like an interview or to guest blog here, please email us: gfbooksmom AT gmail DOT com

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